Are You At Risk For A Reverse Cell Phone Lookup?

2007-01-30 Word Count: 479 Category: Mobile Phones

Before the Internet reverse phone number lookup was only available to private detectives, police and the wealthy. It was a manual method requiring searching through the reverse phone number directory. Everyone is familiar with the telephone directory, such as the white pages and yellow pages. These directories are in alphabetical order by person of business name. The reverse telephone directory is sorted by telephone number with name and address for each. The reverse telephone directory is very difficult to purchase.

From the beginning cell phone numbers were unlisted. They are not published in the white pages. The reasoning is that since the owner of the cell phone has to pay for the air time, the owner should decide who has their cell phone number.

There are several excellent free and fee reverse phone number lookup websites. People are becoming more familiar with this service and recognizing the power of it. A reverse telephone lookup website can look up a phone number and name starting with a phone number, address or name.

There are many benefits to being able to perform a reverse phone number look up quickly and easily from the comfort of your home.

• Track down the registered owner of the cell phone number.
• Keep an eye on who your teenage son or daughter is calling. This may seem a bit draconian; however, are exposed to more pressures than ever before.
• Finding the lost phone number of a old colleague. Have you ever jotted down a friend’s phone number on a scrape piece of paper and then you can’t find it when you need to?

The ease of this creates some difficulties for the cell phone owner. You can find any name on such a directory. If multiple people have lived at a certain address or had the same phone number, then they can all appear on your search, giving you access to names you would have otherwise never seen. This has spawned a great debate in privacy versus convenience.

Here are some tips to keep your cell phone number out of the reverse phone directories.

• Keep phone numbers unlisted.
• Don’t give out a cell phone number on an application. Applications for credit cards to movie rentals are now requesting your cell phone number. Do you really know what they do with the data the collect?
• Don’t add your cell phone number to the ‘Do Not Call’ registry. How do you know a company will not purchase the list to use it track down people?
• Only give your cell phone number to family and close friends.
• Don’t add your cell phone number to a cell phone listing service.

In the hands of a scammer a reverse telephone directory is gold mine of potential targets. In today’s world of cons and identity theft everyone needs to be more vigilant in protecting their information.